Austria will be the first European country to reimpose a full lockdown amid a new wave of Covid cases as well as mandating all eligible citizens get vaccinated by February.
Approximately two-thirds of all Austrians have been fully vaccinated, they are one of the lowest rates amongst western European countries. They have reached a seven-day high of 1,049.9 cases per 100,000 people in the past week, and Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein said imposing a lockdown was a “last resort”.
A record 15,145 cases were reported in Austria on Thursday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. In the past week, there were a record 88,315 cases. There were 55 reported COVID-19 deaths on Thursday and 302 deaths in the last week. The highest daily death toll during the pandemic in Austria was 218 on Dec. 17, 2020.
The deadliest week was Dec. 13–Dec. 19, 2020, with 878 fatalities.
Under the measures, Austrians will be asked to work from home, non-essential shops will close, and schools will remain open for children who require face-to-face learning. They will continue until mid-December but will be reassessed after 10 days.
“We don’t want a fifth wave. We don’t want a sixth and seventh wave,” Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg Schallenberg said at a press conference. “We have not succeeded in convincing enough people to get vaccinated. It hurts that such measures still have to be taken.”
“We have not managed to get enough unvaccinated people to get vaccinated. The most recent measures have increased daily vaccinations but not enough. For a long time, it was consensus in the country that a vaccine mandate is not necessary, but we have to face reality,” Schallenberg — who was named chancellor last month after the resignation of his predecessor Sebastian Kurz over corruption accusations — said.
“This is a dramatic step,” Schallenberg continued. “In the long term, the way out of this vicious circle we are in — and it is a vicious circle, we are stumbling from wave to lockdown, and that can’t carry on ad infinitum — is only vaccination.”.
The February 1 deadline for all eligible Austrians to be vaccinated is the most stringent measure to attempt to control Covid via vaccinations in Europe.
Former Vice President Joe Biden attempted to mandate vaccinations for citizens here in America by using OSHA; however, the 6th Circuit Court has stopped that for now. It helped that there was the tremendous backlash from leaders within 27 of our states filing 34 lawsuits and the steadfast refusal of us unvaccinated to get the experimental mRNA injected into our bodies against our will.
Austria isn’t the first country to mandate vaccinations for all citizens though. They join Indonesia, Micronesia, and Turkmenistan.
Of Austria’s population of 9 million, 65% are fully vaccinated.
The lockdown was initially not for the entire country. Just last week they launched the Covid lockdown for unvaccinated people but expanded to include everyone after the cases spiked.
Why are Covid cases spiking when 65% of their population is vaccinated? I thought the vaccine worked?
Fraudci came out to the New York Times just last week about the waning effectiveness of the vaccine and boosters against both infection and hospitalization several months after the initial vaccination. He then cited data from Israel, which he said tends to be about a month to a month and a half ahead of us in terms of the outbreak.
“They are seeing a waning of immunity not only against infection but against hospitalization and to some extent death, which is starting to now involve all age groups. It isn’t just the elderly,” Fauci said. “It’s waning to the point that you’re seeing more and more people getting breakthrough infections, and more and more of those people who are getting breakthrough infections are winding up in the hospital.”
Austria is one of many European countries with surging Covid cases. Germany experienced a record 68,366 cases on Wednesday. The Czech Republic had a pandemic-high 22,585 cases on Wednesday. The Netherlands hit a record 23,641 cases on Thursday. Belgium had a record 32,708 cases on November 3. As of yet, the record cases have not equated to record deaths.
